The Bureau of Finance and Management (BFM) is the source of this bill. This bill was amended and passed House Appropriations 9-0. It then passed the House floor 67-2. Honestly this is a bill I just don’t understand…

Rep Justin Cronin (R, Dist 23) is the prime sponsor. This bill was originally titled “Establish the state debt collection office”. I guess some legislators felt “obligation recovery center” sounded much nicer… This was a hoghouse vehicle bill. The Senate version of this bill (SB 59 –SoDakLiberty Posts) was tabled. This bill was filled with the language the Department of Revenue wants. SD does not need to expand government just to be used against citizens of the state.

The hoghoused bill passed House Appropriations 8-1. It was amended on the House floor and passed 58-11. Hopefully this bill gains more resistance in the Senate.

The SD Department of Public Safety (DPS) asked for this bill. This bill passed the House Appropriations 8-0 and the House floor 57-12. The application fee would go from $20 to $28, and the fee for a duplicate license goes from $10 to $15. A CDL application goes from $25 to $35. Really? And here everyone seemed to think all the transportation fee and tax increases would only be included in the massive transportation bill.

HB 1110 – SoDakLiberty Posts – Approve the addition of judges to the Second and Seventh Judicial Circuits and to make an appropriation therefor.

Rep Brian Gosch (R, Dist 32) and Sen Tim Rave (R, Dist 25) are the prime sponsors. Here is what the bill originally appropriated before House Appropriations amended the amounts down to a dollar:

$227,216 for the creation of a circuit court judgeship in the Second Judicial Circuit. $213,571 of that can be used for personal services and benefits. $13,645 can be used for operational expenses. 2.0 FTE for a circuit judge position and support staff in the Second Judicial Circuit.

$227,216 for the creation of a circuit court judgeship in the Seventh Judicial circuit. $213,571 of that can be used for personal services and benefits. $13,645 can be used for operational expenses. 2.0 FTE for a circuit judge position and support staff in the Seventh Judicial Circuit.

The bill passed House Appropriations 8-0. It passed the House floor 59 to 10.

HB 1188 – SoDakLiberty Posts – Make an appropriation to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to develop a hydrologic model of the lower Big Sioux River Basin in southeast South Dakota and to declare an emergency.

The SD Office of the Governor asked for this bill. This originally appropriated $500,000 for this project, but was amended down to $1 in House Appropriations, where it passed 9-0. It went on to pass the House floor 53-14.

HB 1192 – SoDakLiberty Posts – Make an appropriation for the protection and enhancement of wildlife habitat and to declare an emergency.

The SD Office of the Governor asked for this bill. This was amended to change the appropriated amount down to $1, from $1,500,000. It then passed House appropriations 9-0 and the House floor 52-15.

HB 1219 – SoDakLiberty Posts – Permit entities to voluntarily disclose ownership on filings with the Office of the Secretary of State.

Rep Kent Peterson (R, Dist 19) and Sen David Novstrup (R, Dist 3) are the prime sponsors. This bill passed State Affairs 12-0 after being amended. The section of code being amended has to do with the The Model Registered Agents Act (MoRAA) (§ 59-11). This is a section of code that standardizes business entity reporting. This particular bill adds a $25 fee to submit the statement of voluntary disclosure of beneficial interests with the SOS office. The bill passed the House floor 67-2.

HB 1185 – SoDakLiberty Posts – Make an appropriation for property and casualty loss coverage, to establish the property and casualty captive insurance company fund for state properties, and to declare an emergency.

The SD Office of the Governor asked for this bill. This bill passed House Appropriations 8-0 after being amended (casualty was misspelled as casually in part of the bill). It then passed the House floor 50-20. This bill appropriates $4,000,000 to “the Bureau of Administration for the purpose of making a grant to a captive insurance company controlled entirely by the state to fund property and casualty loss coverage.” Daugaard has mentioned this before. It makes sense for an entity as big as the state to take such an approach to insure property owned by the state…. But…… Is this really a priority right now? The state has gone 125 years without a captive insurance company. That four million could be better spent on infrastructure or education.

The SD Office of the Governor asked for this bill. The bill passed House Appropriations 9-0 and the House floor 53-17. Here is the language being added to the act that provides the agreement with owners of the former Homestake Mine:

Up to two million five hundred thousand dollars of the indemnification fund may be used to provide initial capital and pay expenses for a captive insurance company upon the terms and conditions to be set forth in the agreement between the owners of the former Homestake Mine and the authority. If released in writing by the owners of the former Homestake Mine, up to seven million five hundred thousand dollars of the indemnification fund may be used by the authority for the purpose of a project, as defined in subdivision 1-16H-3(3), at the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota.

I had no problem with this bill at first. But after looking further I wonder if this is really where the state should be focusing money. There are a lot of actual state constitutional level priorities that could use funding.

HB 1187 – SoDakLiberty Posts – Make an appropriation for liability coverage for the South Dakota Building Authority, South Dakota Health and Educational Facilities Authority, South Dakota Housing Development Authority, South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority, and South Dakota Education Enhancement Funding Corporation, to establish the liability captive insurance company fund, and to declare an emergency.

The SD Office of the Governor asked for this bill. This bill passed House Appropriations 8-0 after being amended. It then passed the House floor 59-11. This appears to be a sister bill to HB 1185. It appropriates $2,000,000 to “the Bureau of Administration for the purpose of making a grant to a captive insurance company to provide liability coverage to the South Dakota Building Authority, South Dakota Health and Educational Facilities Authority, South Dakota Housing Development Authority, South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority, and the South Dakota Educational Enhancement Funding Corporation.” Just like with 1185 I feel this is not a good choice of where to spend money right now. It sounds like a good idea, but a good idea doesn’t mean it is a good funding priority.